A rough night for the Knicks became even worse as Jalen Brunson suffered an ankle injury in the waning minutes of Wednesday’s 124-107 loss to the Orlando Magic.
Brunson’s right ankle rolled awkwardly as he was fouled by Wendell Carter Jr. on a drive to the basket with 1:54 left in regulation.
The star point guard stayed in to shoot two free throws, then committed a foul — his sixth — two seconds later and walked straight to the locker room, appearing to limp slightly.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown confirmed Brunson turned his right ankle and had no further update. But The Athletic reported Brunson left Madison Square Garden on crutches and in a walking boot.
Brunson did not speak to the media after the game. The Knicks trailed, 115-99, when Brunson suffered the injury.
“I haven’t talked to him,” Josh Hart said. “I have no idea.”
Brunson missed 15 games with a right ankle sprain last season, then appeared to tweak the injury multiple times during the Knicks’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals without ever sitting out of a playoff game.
Brunson, who scored a game-high 31 points before fouling out Wednesday, had been one of the Knicks’ lone bright spots on a night they suffered their first home loss of the season.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Knicks (7-4) came out flat and never recovered, struggling with the physicality of an Orlando team (6-6) that boasted the Eastern Conference’s most efficient defense last season.
The Knicks committed six turnovers in the first quarter and nine in the first half, after which they trailed, 62-42. They shot just 13-of-39 (33.3%) from the field and 4-of-19 (21.1%) on 3-pointers before halftime.
“They kicked our ass,” Brown said. “It’s as simple as that. They came out with a physical presence that we didn’t handle well.”
The loss snapped the Knicks’ five-game winning streak and dropped them to 7-1 at the Garden.
It was the most lopsided defeat of the season for the Knicks, who had scored at least 130 points in each of the previous three games.
“We just didn’t do a lot of the things that made us special [during] the last winning streak,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. “They came in with a game plan. They executed it. And we didn’t execute ours.”
The Knicks trailed by as many as 21 points before halftime.
They were outscored, 32-19, during a second quarter in which Orlando’s Franz Wagner scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, burning the Knicks with an array of crafty lay-ups and a second-chance 3-pointer.
Wagner finished with a team-high 28 points on 10-of-22 shooting and nine rebounds, picking up the slack after Paolo Banchero, Orlando’s top scorer and rebounder, left in the second quarter with a groin strain and did not return.
Brunson scored 16 points in the first half, but the rest of the Knicks totaled 26 on 9-of-29 shooting.
It was a far cry from Tuesday night’s 133-120 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, during which the Knicks erupted for 42 points in the first quarter alone.
“We didn’t respond the way we should have,” Hart said. “You can blame it on the back-to-back, excuses, but there’s none of that. They flat out kicked our ass.”
The Knicks made multiple runs in the second half, including in the fourth quarter, when a Brunson jumper cut the deficit to 100-91 with 6:04 to go.
But Jalen Suggs answered with a dagger 3-pointer on the next possession.
“When you dig a hole like we did in the first half, it’s going to be hard,” Brown said. “It’s going to be hard to come back and win the game.”
A day after the Knicks set a franchise record with 55 attempts from 3-point range, and made 22 of them, they shot just 11-of-36 (30.6%) on 3-pointers.
Six Magic players scored in double figures, including Desmond Bane, who finished with 22 points, and Anthony Black, who added 17 off the bench. Brunson and Towns were the only Knicks to score in double figures.
The Knicks will look to bounce back on Friday night, when they host the Miami Heat in the final game of a season-long seven-game homestand.
“Learned [a] lesson,” Hart said. “We have a tough, physical opponent on Friday. And we’ve got to respond.”
